Micromachining of materials with lasers has emerged as a disruptive technology in recent years. The quality of the machining process with the laser is typically dependent on several factors, including laser pulse duration, laser pulse repetition rate, laser pulse energy, and laser beam quality, with different machining processes often requiring variation of the aforementioned factors. Various micromachining processes seek to process target material as efficiently as possible without causing unwanted damage or defects. Lasers operating in a “burst” mode can provide packets of optical pulses where the pulses are spaced closely together to assist with the machining and processing of some materials. However, burst laser operation can be unstable and result in less than desirable results. Therefore, a need remains for improved burst mode operation.